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Hyperloop One is becoming Virgin Hyperloop One.

Virgin Group

From the mind of one billionaire to the wallet of another, Elon Musk's Hyperloop concept is getting a big boost towards becoming a reality from Richard Branson and the Virgin Group, which announced an investment in startup Hyperloop One on Thursday.

"With Virgin Hyperloop One, passengers and cargo will be loaded into a pod, and accelerate gradually via electric propulsion through a low-pressure tube," Branson wrote in a blog post announcing the investment and the re-branding of the company name. "The pod quickly lifts above the track using magnetic levitation and glides at airline speeds for long distances due to ultra-low aerodynamic drag."

Talking about the deal on CNBC, Branson spoke of the possibility of moving passengers between London and Edinburgh in under 45 minutes as well as the potential to link thousands of cities worldwide via Hyperloop routes.

"We could start building in as soon as two years," the British magnate said. "Between two and four years if governments move quickly, they can get to the front of the queue."

That's a not so subtle hint that Virgin Hyperloop One might like a little support from a government willing to shepherd a Hyperloop project through what could be a maze of regulatory hurdles. Governments from Colorado to Abu Dhabi have already shown their interest in partnering up on Hyperloop.

Branson claimed that building a Hyperloop would be a lot cheaper than building a conventional rail network, a claim that Musk has thrown around since he and SpaceX first open-sourced the concept back in 2013. There's plenty of reason for skepticism here, as such estimates tend to rely on materials innovations that have yet to happen and a comparison to California's rather pricey high-speed rail plan.

That said, research done by NASA found that Hyperloop could certainly offer a more efficient, faster and cheaper transport alternative to short-distance flights of less than 500 miles. A German study also found Hyperloop could have positive impacts when it comes to reducing traffic congestion and pollution.

Branson will be joining the board of Virgin Hyperloop One. Investment numbers were not disclosed, but CNBC reports that the $85 million round the company raised in September includes the Virgin money, bringing the total amount invested in the company since 2014 to $245 million.

The feasibility of Hyperloop routes across North America, Europe and the Middle East are being examined, but a full-scale test has yet to take place anywhere. Hyperloop One and Musk's Tesla conducted pod tests earlier this year that involved successfully sending scaled-down versions down tracks at a fraction of the speeds promised by the technology.

Adding the Virgin name to the Hyperloop brand could give it a boost, but it's still a ways off from becoming a reality.

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